With online communities such as Lowyat.net where a platform is provided people peddle their wares and services, one can’t be too careful when it comes to making a deal, especially when you’re the one forking out the money.
More often than not, it’s best to check on users (eg sellers) on their posts or topics to know whether they are people who are genuinely able to provide you advice.
Here’s something interesting I stumbled upon recently. Note : Stumbled upon. This is because Lowyat.net is a HUGE forum, the biggest tech community in Malaysia. It’s not easy to figure things out or note connections unless one put a little effort.
How I chanced upon this matter was because I remember a particular user asking newbie questions just a few weeks ago but as of last week, I saw his signature is already advertising his CUSTOM BUILD PC Service.
So with my curiosity tingled, I decided to check out his activity.
On April 4th, this individual was asking for a quote / setup – https://forum.lowyat.net/topic/2762389 – clearly a newbie question. 3 days later, the person posted yet another newbie question – https://forum.lowyat.net/topic/2765251
2 days after that (April 9th) – the same person started to offer service to customize computers! 0_o https://forum.lowyat.net/topic/2768409
Another 5 days later, the said individual started thread exhibiting his lack of understanding of benchmarks https://forum.lowyat.net/topic/2773626
Concluding Thoughts
I’ve been in Lowyat.net for many years, I started off as a Trade Enforcer despite my years of experience in both Hardware discussion section and Trade Zone section, I’ve not come by any case as such.
From what I can conclude, the individual is likely a genuine seller but a seller without much knowledge. So when potential customers ask for a quote for X spec machine at Y price, he would visit the Hardware Q&A section, pretending to be a newbie asking for specs recommendation.
It’s not wrong per se but it just means the seller is mis-representing him or herself as a seller is expected to have decent knowledge of the goods they’re selling. Would be buyers would likely be faced with a seller with slow or inaccurate response while the seller is “manipulating” the community for his / her own gains.
What do you think?
*At the time of this post, the said user is already promoting his / her upcoming PC Hardware service.